Red and Blue LED grow lights in refugium?

CoralCompulsion

CoralCompulsion

New member
Has anyone tried, or know of any research regarding using red and blue led grow lights over a refugium?

I know that these types of led bulbs are the bulb of choice for "home hydroponic" setups, but I'm interested whether they have the same effect in growing macro algae in a refugium.

It would also be interesting to compare growth between different ratios of blues to reds. Traditionally, blue is used for growth and red for flowering, but I'm not to sure how that translates into growth of macro algaes. For instance, if blue promotes growth, then theoretically I could run an all blue led bulb over a refugium and get amazing growth out of macros, however I'm pretty sure that's not the case.

Any thoughts or experience?
 
You should check out algaescrubbers.net.. They mainly use red leds to grow the algae..
 
put this in a PAR bulb and I'd buy it... or even just a low power 6500k one as red isn't necessary because my macro grows crazy anyway. That way I can take that AI LED off my fuge and put it to some better work!
 
jeppun21 said:
You should check out algaescrubbers.net.. They mainly use red leds to grow the algae..
Click to expand...

Thanks, that site is full of info! I'll certainly be wasting some time there!

poidog said:
put this in a PAR bulb and I'd buy it... or even just a low power 6500k one as red isn't necessary because my macro grows crazy anyway. That way I can take that AI LED off my fuge and put it to some better work!
Click to expand...

That's actually what I am interested in. My fuge light just died, so I'm thinking about making a custom PAR bulb as a replacement.

I'm debating just red:blue combo, or if it should be red:blue:6500k, or red:6500k, or just 6500k.
 
CoralCompulsion said:
Thanks, that site is full of info! I'll certainly be wasting some time there!



That's actually what I am interested in. My fuge light just died, so I'm thinking about making a custom PAR bulb as a replacement.

I'm debating just red:blue combo, or if it should be red:blue:6500k, or red:6500k, or just 6500k.
Click to expand...

You should do it :) it'll be a great fuge light.. Its gonna make stuff grow like crzy..
 
jeppun21 said:
You should do it :) it'll be a great fuge light.. Its gonna make stuff grow like crzy..
Click to expand...

Well, my tricolor bulb I carry is already 6blue:4white6500k:2red. So, I'm going to test that to start with, but I'm looking into some other options that may be better combos, since the blue on that is probably overkill and based on that algae scrubbers site, mostly red seems to be the recommendation. But well see. I'm waiting to hear back from my manufacturer to see what we can do.
 
I'd do both a 6500k and a 6500k + red and let people have that option. I'd just get the 6500k as I have no interested to really "grow" macro that much, and I don't want my fuge area glowing red! :) I have an AI nano running on my fuge running at 10% and my cheato grows like a weed (no red added there).

Specific for macro growth you don't need a lot of LEDs or power... just a few of them will do the job so these can be set at a lower price point and I see you having no problem selling them. Something that is at $100 that you have now, I'd have no interest... too much for a fuge IMO
 
poidog said:
I'd do both a 6500k and a 6500k + red and let people have that option. I'd just get the 6500k as I have no interested to really "grow" macro that much, and I don't want my fuge area glowing red! :) I have an AI nano running on my fuge running at 10% and my cheato grows like a weed (no red added there).

Specific for macro growth you don't need a lot of LEDs or power... just a few of them will do the job so these can be set at a lower price point and I see you having no problem selling them. Something that is at $100 that you have now, I'd have no interest... too much for a fuge IMO
Click to expand...

Thanks, that is exactly what I am looking for. I'm looking into a 7x3w led bulb and also a 12x1w led bulb. In regards to color combos I am still undecided on for now, but we'll see.
 
CoralCompulsion said:
Has anyone tried, or know of any research regarding using red and blue led lights over a refugium?

I know that these types of led bulbs are the bulb of choice for "home hydroponic" setups, but I'm interested whether they have the same effect in growing macro algae in a refugium.

It would also be interesting to compare growth between different ratios of blues to reds. Traditionally, blue is used for growth and red for flowering, but I'm not to sure how that translates into growth of macro algaes. For instance, if blue promotes growth, then theoretically I could run an all blue led bulb over a refugium and get amazing growth out of macros, however I'm pretty sure that's not the case.

Any thoughts or experience?
Click to expand...

Hello man sorry for old thread reply but I want to gather some information about led lights. Are these lights effective in growing plants? Which light technology and color is best suited for small aquarium? Please help in solving my queries. Thanks in advance:)
 
JohnWood said:
Hello man sorry for old thread reply but I want to gather some information about led lights. Are these lights effective in growing plants? Which light technology and color is best suited for small aquarium? Please help in solving my queries. Thanks in advance:)
Click to expand...

Check out our par30 refugium grow bulb.

http://coralcompulsion.com/led-21w-REF-GRO

That is what was developed based on the research we did regarding macro algae growth.

Basically, the red and blue holds true for macro algae growth, as it does in hydroponic setups. However, the difference is the introduction of growth in water. Once you get over about 12" of water, water starts filtering out light at the red end of the spectrum, which is what promotes the most growth in most marine macros. As with coral, its important to know where your macro is typically found in the wild. Algaes found in shallower waters grow better under red, and algaes found in deeper waters grow better under blues.

Our refugium bulb lends itself to different setups and depths, and also different species, by introducing a broad range of spectrums on the red end. It uses warm white and neutral white leds, along with deep red and deep blue leds. The reds directly promote most growth, while the warm and neutral whites give a bit of a bump to lighter red spectrums and some of the blues that penetrate deeper, and the blues help with penetrating deeper water, and for some of the marine plants that actually prefer blue to red and are typically found in deeper waters.

Hopefully that helps a bit. Let me know if you have any other questions.
 
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